The Use of Honey as a Healing Agent

Would you believe that researchers have found that using honey to treat pressure ulcers, bed sores and other wounds is more effective than conventional treatment, healing even advanced pressure ulcers four times faster than the usual treatment protocol?

After stumbling upon a 2007 study of how effective honey dressings were in treating pressure ulcers - sometimes called bed sores - I was on a quest to learn about the use of honey for treatment of other wounds too. What I learned was quite interesting.

The study I referred to was conducted in March and April, 2007, by the Ege University School of Nursing in Izmir, Turkey. During the 5-week clinical trial, the researchers found that honey dressings were not only effective and practical in treating pressure ulcers, but promoted healing four times faster than the conventional treatment.

Pressure ulcers or bed sores, as they are commonly called, come about as a result of constant pressure on one area of the body, poor circulation or a prior infection. They often develop from sitting in a poorly-fitted wheelchair, using a poorly-fitted orthotic or orthopedic device or lying for prolonged periods in one position, such as in a hospital bed. Pressure ulcers and bed sores are notoriously difficult to treat; they heal slowly, especially if a bacterial infection sets in.

Ege University's study included 36 participants with a total of 68 advanced pressure ulcers; 26 patients completed the clinical trial. Over a 5-week period, 25 pressure ulcers were treated with honey dressings, and 25 were treated with ethoxy-diaminoacridine plus nitrofurazone dressings. After the five weeks, those pressure ulcers treated with honey dressings healed approximately four times faster - or had four times the healing - than those pressure ulcers treated conventionally.

In my quest for more information, I learned that there is what's called medicinal grade honey - or medical honey - and what I call "table honey." That's the kind of honey typically found on grocery store shelves. I learned that there have been many other studies in other countries that support the findings of Ege University, including findings that honey is very beneficial in terms of its effect on the skin, inflammation and infection. In fact, several German hospitals are currently experimenting with medical honeys, which are also used now in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Even more interesting to me is the fact that the use of honey to treat wounds is not new; honey has been used for treating wounds and infections of the skin as far back as 2000 B.C.

So why isn't honey used in the U.S as a treatment for wounds? I can only speculate as to the reason. Nonetheless, I did find that medical honey can be purchased online in the U.S., and at least one company in New Jersey, Derma Sciences, has received FDA approval of it's honey bandages. These bandages use what's called manuka honey, which can be purchased in many U.S. health food stores. That being the case, there seems to me to be no reason I can't make my own honey bandages the next time the need arises.

Resource:

Study; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17413836